YO LA TENGO: THE SOUNDS OF SCIENCE
London Barbican 20th April 2002


If I titled this Music by Yo La Tengo; Films by Jean Painleve then it may be a truer representation of what tonight was all about.
This was one of the rare performances of Yo La Tengo's instrumental work 'The Sounds of Science", composed to accompany eight of Painleve's underwater science and nature documentaries. I knew little about Painleve before tonight and I was expecting something a bit more like a BBC Wildlife documentary, but after an hour and a half of being amused, bemused and occasionally disturbed by these films I can see why Yo la Tengo chose to commit themselves to this challenging project. Painleve was a contemporary of Man Ray and Bunuel, and clearly these nature films overlap with some of their work. All of the films are subtitled, so we also get an insight into his surreal and quirky way of looking at the inhabitants of the sea.
The preformance begins with 'Hyas and Stenorhynchus' , a black and white film from 1929 which sets surreal images of crabs to a gently floating guitar piece. Although this is a bit of a departure from their song-based material this is still unmistakeably Yo La Tengo; Georgia's brushes on drums underpinning James's subtle bass and Ira's skeletal guitar sounds.
'Sea Urchins' is a more palatable movie and the band go into a fluid repetitive ambient drone with Ira E-bowing the melody; 'How Some Jellyfish are Born' actually works a fairly typical YLT Farfisa organ melody over probably the most scientific movie of the lot.
I've said before that YLT often play like a jazz band and tonight underlines that even more. Although their music is tied to the action in the movies there is still opportunity to improvise, especially on 'Liquid Crystals' (from 1978) as Painleve's time-lapsed psychedelic photography is treated to a free noise blow-out.
'The Sea Horse' is one of the real highlights. Just two keyboards and a simple pulsing melody fitting perfectly with the images on the screen, and the section where the male sea-horse is giving birth to dozens and dozens of tiny seahorses is unforgettable.
What a contrast to 'The Love Life of the Octopus' where the opening section when the octopus is on land is like a scene from an early Dr Who. The 'love scene' itself is genuinely tense - "the male is white with fear" say the subtitles - and the brooding, pulsing bass part and Ira's trademark guitar freak-out manage to convey this really well.
'Shrimp Stories' releases the tension with a light-hearted, slightly funky piece, prefectly matched to the comic movement of the shrimps up on the big screen!
Although I thought the entire show was excellent, the final piece 'Acera or the Witches Dance' is probably a case of leaving the best to last. A droning, meandering guitar piece which suited the extraordinary pictures of anenome-like creatures 'dancing'.
It is tempting to wonder how these films were perceived when set against their original score (in particular those that the score is credited to electronics pioneer Pierre Henry) but I have to say I think Yo La Tengo have done a great job. This is more of an extension of their main body of work rather than some sort of throwaway side project, and I can't see too many fans being disappointed, particularly if you like their material like 'Sleeping Pill' and 'Night Falls on Hoboken'. Seek out a 'Sounds of the Sounds of Science' CD if you can!
YO LA TENGO
BROADCAST
Shepherds Bush Empire 10th April 2001

Tagged on to their itinery at the end of the All Tomorrows parties festival, this is still a welcome double bill. I suspected Broadcast's set to be similar to the one I saw at the Scala but they've obviously been busy as quite a few new songs are introduced. The movie backdrop (biology, industry) is the same but they only play about half the material from 'The Noise Made by People'- 'C'mon Lets go', 'Papercuts' and the gorgeous 'Echoes Answer' are best received. Also impressive is the epic krautrocky tune that comes near the end of their set.
Support bands don't come much better than this, but then Yo La Tengo are one of the best live bands around so they don't have much trouble following them. An extended 'I Heard You Looking' opens the set, perhaps as a warning to anyone just expecting the moody and mellow tunes from the last album to watch out! However, with the exception of that and the fast version of 'Big Day Coming' they don't delve too far into their back catalogue. 'Autumn Sweater' is another older tune that makes an appearance, again extended with extra analogue synth bits and percussion. Disco cover 'You can have it all' replaces the syncopated dancing they did on the last tour with a triple drummer workout - it still gets the best reaction from the crowd though!
As far as I can tell, there weren't any new songs played tonight, instead they concentrated mostly on the last album 'And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out'. Blissful tunes like 'Our Way to Fall' and 'Last Days of Disco' balance well with Ira's guitar workouts on the likes of 'Cherry Chapstick'.
Of course, no Yo La Tengo gig would be complete without a few cover versions, and tonight the encores consist of five of these! A punk thing called 'Neutron Bomb' (any ideas?), a Flamin' Groovies tune I don't recognise, a couple of others and then Big Star's lovely 'Take Care' to send us off into the night. Another inspired performance.

YO LA TENGO (with Neil Innes, Robyn Hitchcock, Sonic Boom)
London Royal Festival Hall 8th May 2000

Some confusion may have arisen with this line-up, as quite a few people seemed to arrive late in an attempt to miss the solo artists support slots. However, this was Yo La Tengo from the word go, augmented by the three disparate characters at various points during this epic, two-set performance.
My recent experience of Yo La Tengo live, at the Matador records anniversary shows in London last autumn, was one of a band at the height of their powers, previewing material from the forthcoming album and equally at home with Hendrix-style blow-outs or delicate, mellow melodies. Tonight is a subtly different band, less rocking, but no less intense. Obviously because of the extended line-up the six piece want to play together as much as possible, and this limits the usual audience requests as they want to concentrate on material hey have rehearsed.
Actually, Sonic, Neil and Robyn integrate remarkably well, considering that only Sonic is doing the entire tour. It's not all Yo La Tengo tunes either - each member is given a chance to do their own material. Neil Innes (whose back catalogue I know least about!) gives us the Rutles 'Cheese and Onion' and leads the final singalong with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band's 'Mr Apollo' (complete with Robyn Hitchcock on comedy Vivian Stanshall impression). Robyn himself is less to the fore than the others, playing extra guitar on a few songs and singing a mighty version of his Soft Boy classic 'I Wanna Destroy You'. Sonic Boom is probably the most fully integrated extra member, even it's just playing extra percussion on a superb 'Autumn Sweater', he's rarely off the stage. His own vocal contributions are really special - a spine-chilling version of the Spacemen 3 fave 'Transparent Radiation' and a lovely Daniel Johnson cover 'True Love'.
As for Yo La Tengo themselves, well, they concentrate mostly on the last couple of albums, although a slow version of 'Big Day Coming' (off 'Painful') is a welcome surprise at the end of the first set. Highlights from the new album such as 'Saturday', 'Night Falls on Hoboken' and 'Our way to Fall' are all superb, and the full line-up gels best of all on an extended 'Moby Octopad'. Ira's guitar solos where he seems to tie himself in a knot are still thrilling to behold, and a manic encore featuring 'Sugarcube' keeps the noise fans. The biggest applause is saved for 'You Can Have It All' which is just the three of them, a backing tape and some inspired choreography. You had to be there!
A gem of a gig then, and a Yo La Tengo line-up that should be preserved in some way. It would have made a great live album.